Stepping Toward a Solution
Beginners struggle with the task of planning and conducting efficient research, and the ready availability of online records and databases can actually add to the confusion. Would-be genealogists have easy access to information that may or may not relate to their own families. Many newcomers to genealogy spend hours at the computer gathering whatever scraps they can find to connect to names on their trees. They don’t realize that sound research leading to valid conclusions starts with well-defined research goals and strategic plans.
All projects should begin with a clear problem—a specific question that can be answered through genealogical research. “Who,” “what,” and “when” are the most appropriate questions. Researchers could seek, for example, a person’s spouse or parent (“who”); a person’s occupation, religion, or ethnicity (“what”); or the date a person married, died, migrated, or naturalized (“when”). Genealogists should state their questions with as much detail as possible. Focused questions help genealogists plan, research, and analyze.
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About Author
Laura Murphy DeGrazia, CG
Laura Murphy DeGrazia, editor of NGS Monthly, is a professional genealogist specializing in the New York City area and Irish Americans. She is a former trustee and past president of the Board for Certification of Genealogists. From 2010 through 2014 she edited the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. Her book on researching in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, New York, was published as part of the NGS Research in the States series in 2013. Laura is a member of the NGS Magazine Editorial Advisory Committee and the NGS Publications Committee.
You left off the important “Where” although hinting at it when mentioning a record noting a location. I relate our task as an analogy of good journalists’ reporting needing to address accurately the Who, What, When, and Where in every article. The four Ws are important to every genealogist’s “fact” and it’s incomplete without all four. Journalists stories often add the “Why” and “How” — these add context and understanding — and when added to first four W’s — they provide the flesh to your genealogical “skeletons” to provide the far more complete Family History.